Prospect Genius

Whether you’re a plumber, an electrician, or the go-to handyman in your neighborhood, getting your name out there is crucial. Today, we’re diving into the world of PPC—Pay-Per-Click advertising. It’s time to make those internet waves and bring in more customers. Ready? Let’s go!

How It Works

So, what exactly is PPC? Think of it as a digital auction where you bid to have your ads shown to potential customers. When someone clicks on your ad, you pay a small fee—hence, Pay-Per-Click.

1. Google Ads: This is the big one. You create an ad, choose your keywords (the search terms you want your ad to show up for), set your budget, and voila! Your ad appears at the top of Google’s search results. It’s like getting a VIP pass to the front of the line.
2. Facebook Ads: While Google Ads focus on keywords, Facebook Ads target people based on their interests, behaviors, and demographics. You can get super specific—want to reach homeowners in your area who recently moved? Facebook’s got you covered.
3. Bing Ads: Yep, Bing also offers PPC advertising. While it’s less popular due to having a smaller slice of the search traffic pie compared to Google, it can still be a valuable part of your marketing strategy. Plus, Bing’s audience tends to be slightly older and more affluent.

Where Will Your Ads Appear?

Now, let’s talk about visibility. After all, what’s the point of an ad if no one sees it?

• Google Ads: Your ads can show up in several places:
  • Search Results: The holy grail of PPC. Your ad appears at the top or bottom of the search results page.
  • Display Network: These are visual ads that pop up on websites within Google’s vast network.
  • YouTube: Yep, those pre-video ads you sometimes skip can be yours!
• Facebook Ads: Your ads can appear in:
  • News Feed: Right in the middle of a user’s feed.
  • Stories: Those quick, engaging ads in between stories.
  • Marketplace: Perfect if you’re selling products or services.
  • Right Column: Desktop users will see these on the side of their screen.

How Is It Different Than Facebook Ads?

Okay, so both Google and Facebook Ads are awesome, but how are they different? Let’s break it down:

• Targeting:
  • Google Ads: Focuses on intent. If someone is searching “emergency plumber near me,” they likely need a plumber ASAP. Your ad meets that immediate need.
  • Facebook Ads: Focuses on interests. You can target people who love DIY projects or recently bought a home. It’s more about getting in front of people who might need your services soon.
• Ad Types:
  • Google Ads: Primarily text-based, though display ads and video ads on YouTube are also options.
  • Facebook Ads: Visual and engaging, with images, videos, carousels, and even interactive experiences.
• Pull vs. Push:
  • Google Ads: These are “pull” ads, meaning they pull in users who are actively searching for your product or service. They’re already interested, and you’re meeting that demand.
  • Facebook Ads: These are “push” ads. You’re pushing your message to users based on their interests and behaviors, even if they’re not actively searching for your service. This can help you reach potential customers who didn’t know they needed you—yet.
• Budgeting:
  • Google Ads: You bid on keywords, and costs can vary based on competition.
  • Facebook Ads: You set your daily or lifetime budget and bid for ad placements.

The Right Tool for the Right Job

Each platform has its own strengths and proper place in a broader marketing campaign. Knowing when to use Google Ads and when to leverage Facebook Ads (or even Bing Ads) is what makes a savvy marketer. Google Ads can get you in front of people who are actively looking for what you offer, while Facebook Ads can help spread the word about services or products people might not yet know they need.

So there you have it! A quick and snappy guide to PPC. Whether you go with Google Ads to capture those urgent searches, Facebook Ads to build awareness, or Bing Ads to reach a different audience, PPC can be a game-changer for your business. Ready to give it a try? Your next big client might just be a click away!

Ready to get started now? You can sign up online for Google Ads or just give us a call!

We’ve covered a lot of ground in our series on SEO, PPC, and Pay-Per-Lead (PPL). We’ve seen how each one fits into your marketing strategy and what you need to be aware of when using them. Today, we’re going to tackle the big question: Why is buying leads probably the worst option for a long-term strategy? Buckle up, and let’s get into it!

Missed the other 2 parts? Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

The Illusion of Quick Fixes

The Appeal of Pay-Per-Lead

Let’s be real: the idea of buying leads can be super tempting. It sounds so simple – you pay a fee, and leads are handed to you on a silver platter. No waiting, no fuss. For a busy business owner, it feels like a dream come true. But, like all things that seem too good to be true, there are some serious catches.

Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Pains

Buying leads might give you an immediate influx of potential customers, but it’s not a sustainable strategy. Here’s why:

• High Costs: Lead providers charge a premium for their service. You might end up paying a lot per lead, and not all of them will convert into customers.
• Shared Leads: You’re often not the only one buying those leads. You’ll be competing with other businesses for the same customers.
• No Lasting Value: Once you stop paying for leads, the flow stops. There’s no lasting benefit to your business.

Important: When doing the ROI math, remember that if a lead is $20 ea and you get $100 profit from the job, that’s NOT $100 – $20 = $80 profit. Those leads are typically shared with 4+ other businesses so all things being equal, you have a 1 in 5 chance. That makes the math $100 – ( 5 x $20 ) = $0. ZERO DOLLARS means you’re just hoping to break even! Why on Earth would you engage in anything where your best-case scenario is break-even!??!?

The Misaligned Incentives

Who Really Wins?

Lead providers like HomeAdvisor and Angi have one goal: to sell as many leads as possible. Their built-in incentives are not aligned with yours. Here’s how that could play out:

• Irrelevant Leads: They might send you leads that don’t match your services just to make a sale. You waste time and money chasing dead ends.
• Lead Sharing: They may sell the same lead to multiple companies. You end up in a bidding war with your competitors.
• Shady Practices: Some providers have been known to reactivate campaigns without permission or sell old, recycled leads.

Your Experience Matters

At Prospect Genius, we’ve heard countless stories from businesses frustrated with these practices. You deserve better than to be at the mercy of a lead provider who doesn’t have your best interests at heart.

Building Your Own Success

The Ownership Model: SEO

SEO is like owning your own home. You build it, maintain it, and over time, it grows in value. It might take longer to see results, but those results are lasting. When you invest in SEO:

• You Own the Traffic: The traffic to your website is yours. It doesn’t disappear when you stop paying.
• Brand Building: Good SEO strengthens your brand. It makes your business more visible and credible.
• Long-Term Value: Every piece of content, every backlink, and every optimization adds to your business’s long-term success.

The Support Act: PPC

PPC can be a great complement to SEO. It’s like renting a tool you need for a specific job. Use it for:

• Immediate Results: When you need a quick boost or want to promote a special offer.
• Targeted Campaigns: Reaching specific audiences, in specific geographies, with tailored messages.
• Supporting SEO: Filling in gaps while your SEO efforts take root.

The Smart Strategy

Invest in What Lasts

At Prospect Genius, we focus on strategies that build long-term value for your business. Here’s why:

• Aligned Goals: Our success is tied to yours. We want to help you grow, not just make a quick buck.
• Sustainable Growth: By investing in SEO, you’re building a foundation that supports your business for years to come.
• Complementary Tactics: We use PPC and social media marketing to support and enhance your SEO efforts, ensuring you get the best of both worlds.

The Bottom Line

Buying leads might seem like an easy solution, but it’s fraught with challenges and risks. Instead, invest in building your own traffic through SEO and support it with smart, targeted PPC campaigns. This approach not only saves you money in the long run but also builds a lasting, valuable online presence.

Thanks for joining us on this journey through the world of SEO, PPC, and PPL. We hope this series has given you the insights you need to make informed decisions for your business. Remember, at Prospect Genius, we’re here to help you grow and succeed. Reach out to us anytime – let’s build something great together!

We hope this series has helped you understand the ins and outs of SEO, PPC, and PPL. If you have any questions or need personalized advice, don’t hesitate to contact us at Prospect Genius. Let’s turn your marketing strategy into a powerhouse of success!

Today, we’ll dive into the potential pitfalls and what you need to consider when deciding how to use each one. Ready to steer clear of the traps and make the best choices for your business? Let’s get started!

Missed the first part? Here’s Part 1 of this series.

The Hidden Costs of SEO, PPC, and PPL

SEO: The Long Haul Commitment

SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to see results, and patience is key. Here are some things to consider:

• Time Investment: SEO requires a consistent effort over months (sometimes even years) to climb up the search rankings. You need to create quality content, build backlinks, and continuously optimize your site.
• Algorithm Changes: Search engines like Google frequently update their algorithms. What works today might not work tomorrow. Staying updated and adapting to these changes is crucial.
• Upfront Costs: While SEO is cheaper in the long run, the initial costs for quality SEO services can be significant. Think of it as an investment that pays off over time.

PPC: Quick Wins at a Cost

The well-known providers in this category are Google Ads (formerly known as Adwords) and Facebook.

PPC can bring instant results, but it comes with its own set of challenges:

• High Costs: The cost per click can be high, especially in competitive industries. If not managed properly, your budget can disappear quickly with little to show for it. This is why so many turn to a PPC professional (like Prospect Genius) to avoid lighting their money on fire.
• Continuous Spending: As soon as you stop paying, the traffic stops. There’s no lasting value once you turn off your ads.
• Click Fraud: Sometimes, your competitors might click on your ads just to drain your budget. While there are measures to prevent this, it’s a risk you need to be aware of.

Pay-Per-Lead: The Easy but Risky Option

The well-known providers in this category are HomeAdvisor and Angi (formerly known as ServiceMagic and Angie’s List.)

PPL might seem like a quick fix, but be cautious:

• Shared Leads: Often, the leads you buy are also sold to other businesses. This means you’re competing with others for the same potential customer.
• Quality of Leads: Not all leads are created equal. You might end up paying for leads that are not relevant to your services, are already hours or even days old, or are difficult to convert.
• Lack of Control: You’re at the mercy of the lead provider. If they decide to change the terms or raise prices, you have little say in the matter.
• Race to the Bottom: Chasing these shared leads often turns into a “race to the bottom” as it devolves into a cutthroat race to be the lowest-priced option.

IMPORTANT: Aligning Incentives for Success

SEO: Partnering for the Long Term

When you invest in SEO, you and your SEO provider share a common goal: driving organic traffic to your site. This alignment means both parties succeed together. Your SEO provider has every incentive to bring you quality traffic because their success depends on yours.

PPC: Careful Management Needed

With PPC, the incentives are clear: you pay for every click. However, it’s crucial to have a skilled manager who can optimize your campaigns, target the right audience, and ensure you’re not wasting money on irrelevant clicks. Proper management is key to getting the most out of your PPC budget.

A very common billing strategy is to charge the business one flat rate. This means that there’s a black box from which the click budget AND the management budget will be pulled. There’s an inherent incentive with this methodology to ratchet up portion kept by the PPC manager, while cutting into the click budget. They are incentivized to keep as much as possible without you quitting. Be very wary of this billing strategy.

Here at Prospect Genius, we bill for your management fee, and then have Google bill you directly for the clicks. There’s no way for us to cheat in this structure, which is why we do it this way.

Pay-Per-Lead: Misaligned Incentives

Here’s where things get tricky. Lead providers like HomeAdvisor or Angi have a built-in incentive to sell as many leads as possible, even if that’s at the expense of quality. The structure of how this model works incentivizes them to send you leads that don’t quite fit your services, forcing you to dispute charges or waste time and money on unqualified prospects. Worse, they also have an incentive to sell the same lead to multiple companies, making it a race to see who converts it first. Even worse still, they’re incentivized to sell you stale leads that were previously sold to other companies, even if they are already days old.

Building Lasting Value

SEO: Your Digital Asset

SEO is an investment in your business’s future. The content you create, the backlinks you build, and the optimizations you make all contribute to a growing digital asset that keeps delivering value over time. Even if you stop active SEO efforts, the benefits can linger. Plus, you can take your accumulated value with you to another SEO provider (provided you own the assets) which affords you freedom to pick the best SEO partner at any given time.

PPC: Short-Term Boost

PPC can provide a significant boost, especially for promotions or seasonal offers. But remember, it’s like renting traffic. The moment you stop paying, the traffic stops. It’s great for immediate needs but not for building long-term value. The pricing is determined by auction and so you will get no benefit from long-term use. Your prices will only go up over time.

Pay-Per-Lead: Temporary Fix

PPL can fill gaps and provide immediate leads, but it’s not a sustainable long-term strategy. It’s like constantly buying plants instead of growing your own garden. You get the instant result, but there’s no lasting value.

The Takeaway

When deciding how to use SEO, PPC, and PPL, keep these considerations in mind:

• SEO: Think long-term. It’s an investment in your business’s future and brand.
• PPC: Use it strategically for quick wins and short-term needs.
• PPL: Be cautious. It can be a quick fix but often comes with hidden costs and risks.

At Prospect Genius, we believe in building lasting value through smart, strategic marketing. We focus on SEO to create a strong foundation for your online presence, supported by PPC and social media marketing as needed. Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll explore why buying leads might be the worst option for a long-term strategy. Until then, keep growing and glowing!

We hope this helps you navigate the potential pitfalls of SEO, PPC, and PPL. If you have any questions or need guidance, feel free to reach out to us at Prospect Genius. We’re here to help your business thrive!

Today, we’re kicking off a three-part series to help clear up the fog around SEO, PPC, and Pay-Per-Lead (PPL or “buying leads”) programs. By the end of this series, you’ll be armed with the knowledge to make the best decisions for your business. Ready? Let’s dive in!

The Dynamic Trio: SEO, PPC, and Pay-Per-Lead

Imagine your marketing strategy as a toolbox. Each tool has its purpose, and knowing when and how to use them is key to success.

SEO: The Long-Term Investment

Think of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as the foundation of your business’s online presence. It’s like planting a tree: it takes time to grow, but once it does, it provides shade (and leads) for years to come. Yes, it requires some upfront work and investment, but over the long term, it’s the most cost-effective way to get traffic to your website.

SEO is all about making your website attractive to search engines like Google. When people search for “plumber near me” or “HVAC repair,” you want your business to pop up at the top of the results. The beauty of SEO is that once you start ranking well, you keep getting traffic without having to pay for every single click.

It’s important to recognize that SEO is an investment in your own business and brand. As you pour money into this, you will build equity that stays with you. In short, this is an “ownership” model.

PPC: The Quick Fix

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is like turning on a faucet. You start getting traffic immediately, but you pay for every drop. It’s a fast way to get your name out there and can be very effective for short-term campaigns or when you need immediate results.

However, PPC can get expensive over time. Each click on your ad costs money, and those costs can add up quickly. It’s like renting a house: as long as you keep paying, you have a place to live (or traffic to your site), but stop paying, and it’s all gone. Plus, the prices don’t ever go down over time so you’ll at least pay the same, but likely more, on day 1,000 as you do on day 1.

Pay-Per-Lead: The Convenient Option

Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) programs, where you buy leads from companies like HomeAdvisor or Angi, can seem like a quick and easy solution. You get leads delivered to your inbox, and you can start contacting potential customers right away.

But here’s the catch: PPL can be very costly. You’re often sharing those leads with several other companies, and you don’t get any lasting value from the money you spend. It’s like renting a fancy tool for a day but never owning it. Plus, there are other risks we’ll discuss in the next posts in this series.

The Smart Strategy: Mix and Match

So, what’s the best approach? A smart strategy is to use a mix of these tools, tailored to your specific needs and goals.

• SEO: Focus on SEO as your long-term investment. It’s your business’s online real estate that you own and can build on over time.
• PPC: Use PPC to complement your SEO efforts, especially when you need quick results or want to target specific promotions.
• PPL: Be cautious with PPL. It can fill gaps in your pipeline, but it shouldn’t be your main strategy due to its high costs and potential drawbacks.

At Prospect Genius, we don’t sell leads. Instead, we focus on building your business’s online presence through SEO, supported by PPC and social media marketing as needed. This way, you invest in your future, build lasting value, and avoid the pitfalls of relying solely on bought leads.

Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll dive into the concerns and considerations when deciding on these marketing strategies. Until then, keep growing and keep glowing!

Hopefully this helps shed some light on how SEO, PPC, and PPL can fit together in your marketing strategy. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to discuss the best approach for your business!

Read Part 2 of this series here.